Would Have I Taken the Money?
Don’t worry I haven’t stolen anything. It’s about something else.
Yesterday, as I was walking home (yes, I do walk) I saw a sign offering a $50 reward for a lost cat. It described the cat and said that it got lost on New Year’s Eve.
The first thing that came to my mind was how nice it would be to find the cat and take it back to its owners without taking the money. How happy I would have made them.
But I couldn’t help it think of whether I would have taken the money provided my financial situation was a little different. I’m not rich (as a matter of fact I’m quite far from being rich). I am financially comfortable for my present living standards. Not long ago, though, I was struggling and struggling hard. So I ask myself: would have I taken the money back then? Although I can’t really give a definite answer, it’s very possible that I might have.
Had I found the cat, brought it back to its owners and not taken the money, they most likely would think of me as a real nice person. Little would they know that about half a year ago I might have taken their money.
Without being a religious person (with the going to church and all that stuff) I do believe in God and the bible. I actually pride myself in knowing a lot more than the “religious” people about what the bible says. And there’s a particualr story in there that applies to me.
On one of their days at the temple, Jesus and his disciples saw an old, really poor lady giving a penny to the temple. Needless to say Jesus used this as an example to teach his disciples yet another lesson. That old woman’s one penny donation was worth a billion times more than a rich man’s any amount. Why? Simply because she proves so much love (in this case for God and his temple) that she wants to contribute to it even if that means her getting herself into even more financial hardship. While any rich person, normally, gives away a surpluss, something they have extra and can very well live without, that poor old woman shared out of her kindness and love for God something she already had very little of.
So how does this apply to me? I wonder if I am any better than the rich people Jesus was referring to. Yes, today I wouldn’t take the 50 bucks, but that’s only because I can do without it. It’s not a significant amount for me anymore.
The only thing that makes me feel better is that I’m sure there are plenty of folks out there who, even though they wouldn’t need the $50, they might have taken it.
On the other hand I keep asking myself what determined the owners of the cat decide upon the amount of “fifty”. Some might say it’s a decent amount while others might think it’s actually not enough. As far as I could see so far, most pet owners who love their pets, are usually willing to spend a lot more in such a situation.
But who am I to judge? Those guys are probably in an even worse financial situation than I was half a year ago. And yet, out of love for their lost cat, they’re willing to give away $50 to those who brought it back home. Maybe a kid misses the cat. I preffer to look at it this way.
I really hope they’ll find their cat.
